From Select Agent to an Established Pathogen: The Response to \u3ci\u3ePhakopsora pachyrhizi\u3c/i\u3e (Soybean Rust) in North America

The pathogen causing soybean rust, Phakopsora pachyrhizi, was first described in Japan in 1902. The disease was important in the Eastern Hemisphere for many decades before the fungus was reported in Hawaii in 1994, which was followed by reports from countries in Africa and South America. In 2004, P. pachyrhizi was confirmed in Louisiana, making it the first report in the continental United States. Based on yield losses from countries in Asia, Africa, and South America, it was clear that this pathogen could have a major economic impact on the yield of 30 million ha of soybean in the United States. The response by agencies within the United States Department of Agriculture, industry, soybean check-off boards, and universities was immediate and complex. The impacts of some of these activities are detailed in this review. The net result has been that the once dreaded disease, which caused substantial losses in other parts of the world, is now better understood and effectively managed in the United States. The disease continues to be monitored yearly for changes in spatial and temporal distribution so that soybean growers can continue to benefit by knowing where soybean rust is occurring during the growing season

Strong evidence that the common variant S384F in BRCA2 has no pathogenic relevance in hereditary breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Unclassified variants (UVs) of unknown clinical significance are frequently detected in the BRCA2 gene. In this study, we have investigated the potential pathogenic relevance of the recurrent UV S384F (BRCA2, exon 10). METHODS: For co-segregation, four women from a large kindred (BN326) suffering from breast cancer were analysed. Moreover, paraffin-embedded tumours from two patients were analysed for loss of heterozygosity. Co-occurrence of the variant with a deleterious mutation was further determined in a large data set of 43,029 index cases. Nature and position of the UV and conservation among species were evaluated. RESULTS: We identified the unclassified variant S384F in three of the four breast cancer patients (the three were diagnosed at 41, 43 and 57 years of age). One woman with bilateral breast cancer (diagnosed at ages 32 and 50) did not carry the variant. Both tumours were heterozygous for the S384F variant, so loss of the wild-type allele could be excluded. Ser384 is not located in a region of functional importance and cross-species sequence comparison revealed incomplete conservation in the human, dog, rodent and chicken BRCA2 homologues. Overall, the variant was detected in 116 patients, five of which co-occurred with different deleterious mutations. The combined likelihood ratio of co-occurrence, co-segregation and loss of heterozygosity revealed a value of 1.4 × 10(-8 )in favour of neutrality of the variant. CONCLUSION: Our data provide conclusive evidence that the S384F variant is not a disease causing mutation

Relational hopes: A study of the lived experience of hope in some patients hospitalized for intentional self-harm

Hopelessness is a well-established predictor of suicide, and inspiring hope is an important goal in mental health care, but there are few studies of hope among persons with suicidal behavior. The aim of this study was to interpret the lived experience of hope in some patients hospitalized for intentional self-harm. Twelve persons that had engaged in suicidal behavior by ingesting an overdose of medication were interviewed shortly after hospitalization and asked to narrate about their hopes. The transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method inspired by Ricoeur's theory of interpretation. The naïve reading was one of hope being relational. The structural analysis identified three themes: hopes for life, hopes for death, and the act of hoping. We interpreted the common theme of the interviews as being definite and indefinite relational hopes for life and death. For clinicians, expressions of indefinite hopes may raise concerns about the low likelihood of fulfillment. However, the expression of indefinite hope may serve to avoid experiencing failure, disappointment, and hopelessness

Site fidelity and movement patterns of short-finned pilot whales within the Canary Islands : evidence for resident and transient populations

Funding: co-funded by the Canary Government (Consejería de Política Territorial, Sostenibilidad y Seguridad), the Spanish Government (Fundación Biodiversidad and Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Medio Rural y Marino), Fundación La Caixa, and by a number of international projects funded by EU programmes MACETUS (FEDER/INTERREG III-B MAC/4.2/M10), EMECETUS (FEDER/INTERREG III-B56105/MAC/4.2/M10), LIFE (LIFE03NAT0062), INDEMARES LIFE+ (LIFE07/NAT/E/00732).1. The geographic location and oceanographic, physical, and chemical water properties make the Canary Islands one of the planet's biodiversity hotspots. The short‐finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) is one of the archipelago's most commonly encountered species and is potentially vulnerable to a range of anthropogenic pressures, including habitat degradation, acoustic pollution, fishing, whale‐watching operations, and shipping. Assessment of impact has not been possible because of a lack of even basic information about occurrence and distribution. 2. Spatial and temporal distributions, ranging behaviour, and residence patterns of short‐finned pilot whales were explored for the first time using survey and photo‐identification data collected in the Canary Islands between 1999 and 2012. In total, 1,081 pilot whale sightings were recorded during 70,620 km of search effort over 1,782 survey days. 3. Pilot whales were detected year round and distributed non‐uniformly within the archipelago, with greater densities concentrated in patchy areas mainly on the leeward side of the main islands. In total, 1,320 well‐marked individuals were identified, which exhibited a large degree of variability in site fidelity. 4. Different but not isolated subpopulations of pilot whales that share ranges and maintain social interactions were apparently present in the Canary Islands. Strong evidence of an island‐associated subpopulation was found, with a group of 50 ‘core resident’ individuals associated particularly with Tenerife. There were also ‘transient’ individuals or temporary migrants, which, probably driven by inter‐ and intra‐specific competition, may travel long distances whilst using the archipelago as part of a larger range. 5. These findings fill a major gap in the knowledge of this species’ occurrence, distribution, movements, and site fidelity in the archipelago and provide much needed data to allow the initiation of informed conservation assessments and management actions.PostprintPeer reviewe

Blood inorganic mercury is directly associated with glucose levels in the human population and may be linked to processed food intake

Background: The goals of the study were (1) to determine the impact of inorganic mercury exposure on glucose homeostasis; and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of two community-based interventions in promoting dietary changes among American Indian college students to reduce risk factors for Type-2 Diabetes including fasting glucose, insulin, and mercury levels, weight, and body mass index. Methods: To accomplish goal one, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset was analyzed using a previously published method to determine if there is a relationship between inorganic blood mercury and fasting glucose. To accomplish goal two, ten college students were recruited and randomly assigned to a group receiving the online macroepigenetics nutrition course and the support group for eliminating corn sweeteners. Participants in both groups were assessed for diet patterns, weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, insulin, and mercury levels. The interventions were implemented over a 10-week period. Results:Analysis of the NHANES data (n=16,232) determined a direct relationship between inorganic mercury in blood and fasting glucose levels (p Conclusion: Total blood mercury levels may be influenced by dietary intake of highly processed foods and lower inorganic mercury levels are associated with lower fasting glucose levels. Alternative community-based interventions emphasizing the role food ingredients and toxic substances play in gene modulation and the development of diseases can result in significant dietary improvements and reductions in risk factors associated with type-2 diabetes. A healthier diet can be promoted among community members using a novel online nutrition course. Consumption of corn sweeteners may be a risk factor in the development of obesity

Pacific Ocean–wide profile of CYP1A1 expression, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and organic contaminant burden in sperm whale skin biopsies

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Environmental Health Perspectives 119 (2011): 337-343, doi:10.1289/ehp.0901809.Background: Ocean pollution affects marine organisms and ecosystems as well as humans. The International Oceanographic Commission recommends ocean health monitoring programs to investigate the presence of marine contaminants and the health of threatened species and the use of multiple and early-warning biomarker approaches. Objective: We explored the hypothesis that biomarker and contaminant analyses in skin biopsies of the threatened sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) could reveal geographical trends in exposure on an oceanwide scale. Methods: We analyzed cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) expression (by immunohistochemistry), stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios (as general indicators of trophic position and latitude, respectively), and contaminant burdens in skin biopsies to explore regional trends in the Pacific Ocean. Results: Biomarker analyses revealed significant regional differences within the Pacific Ocean. CYP1A1 expression was highest in whales from the Galapagos, a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage marine reserve, and was lowest in the sampling sites farthest away from continents. We examined the possible influence of the whales’ sex, diet, or range and other parameters on regional variation in CYP1A1 expression, but data were inconclusive. In general, CYP1A1 expression was not significantly correlated with contaminant burdens in blubber. However, small sample sizes precluded detailed chemical analyses, and power to detect significant associations was limited. Conclusions: Our large-scale monitoring study was successful at identifying regional differences in CYP1A1 expression, providing a baseline for this known biomarker of exposure to aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists. However, we could not identify factors that explained this variation. Future oceanwide CYP1A1 expression profiles in cetacean skin biopsies are warranted and could reveal whether globally distributed chemicals occur at biochemically relevant concentrations on a global basis, which may provide a measure of ocean integrity.Funding was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant P42-ES-0469, Superfund Basic Research Program grant P42ES007381, NOAA Sea Grant NA86RG0075 R/B-162, and the Ocean Alliance

A Coordinated Effort to Manage Soybean Rust in North America: A Success Story in Soybean Disease Monitoring

Existing crop monitoring programs determine the incidence and distribution of plant diseases and pathogens and assess the damage caused within a crop production region. These programs have traditionally used observed or predicted disease and pathogen data and environmental information to prescribe management practices that minimize crop loss (3,69). Monitoring programs are especially important for crops with broad geographic distribution or for diseases that can cause rapid and great economic losses. Successful monitoring programs have been developed for several plant diseases, including downy mildew of cucurbits, Fusarium head blight of wheat, potato late blight, and rusts of cereal crops (13,36,51,80)

Hope in action—facing cardiac death: A qualitative study of patients with life-threatening disease

Coping with existential challenges is important when struck by serious disease, but apart from cancer and palliative care little is known about how patients deal with such issues and maintain hope. To explore how patients with life-threatening heart disease experience hope when coping with mortality and other existential challenges, we conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. We made a purposive sample of 11 participants (26–88 years) who had experienced life-threatening disease: eight participants with serious heart disease, two with cancer, and one with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Analysis was by systematic text condensation. The findings showed that hope could enhance coping and diminish existential distress when patients were confronted with mortality and other existential challenges. Hope was observed as three types of dynamic work: to shift perception of mortality from overwhelming horror toward suppression or peaceful acceptance, to foster reconciliation instead of uncertainty when adapting to the new phase of life, and to establish go-ahead spirit instead of resignation as their identity. Meaning of life could, hence, be sustained in spite of serious threats to the persons' future, everyday life, and self-conception. The work of hoping could be supported or disturbed by relationships with family, friends, and health care professionals. Hope can be regarded as an active, dynamic state of existential coping among patients with life-threatening disease. Physicians may support this coping and thereby provide personal growth and alleviation of existential distress by skillfully identifying, acknowledging, and participating in the work of hoping performed by the patient